Dieu du Ciel Rigor Mortis Abt

Brewed by Dieu du Ciel
Style: Abt/Quadrupel
Montreal, Canada

Bottle. Pours a dark, murky brown color, eerily reminiscent of swamp water in its spotty translucency. Despite a vigorous pour, just a thin, hazy layer of beige foam forms at the surface, frothy bubbles forming a ring around the edge. A thick, sheeting wash slides down the glass slowly, leaving behind some wet spotting and droopy arch lace. The nose is pretty spot on, with big, malty notes of caramelized brown sugar, fig, and fruity plum working nicely together. Hints of bread pudding with raisins emerge as well, along with a touch of cola. The flavor dives a bit deeper, though is sharper and more alcohol driven. Toasted sugars, grilled plum, and overly ripe fig provide ample sweetness, with a dash of molasses providing hints of smokiness. Some cocoa and anise shine through, with spicy, floral yeast going long on the finish. The mouthfeel is substantial, yet a bit too hot and overly prickly. Few quads achieve the creaminess that the true masters of the genre do, and this one is no exception. Very good beer nevertheless.

Pours deep bronze with a thick tan head. The aroma has dark fruits (figs, dates), toffee, caramel, spice, very toasted malt and a smoothness along with no bitterness. It has a thick hearty body that still has some bite and fairly sharp carbonation. The taste begins with hefty dark fruit, strong Belgian yeast presence, brown sugar, phenolic spice, anise and molasses. The finish has dry fruit, anise and pleasant warming alcohol. This is a very nice quad.

Bottle. Hazy dark borwn pour, medium carbonation and nice warming aroma of brown sugar, plum and plenty of malt. Flavor was initially malty sweet, then pepper spice and finished a little tart. Unbelievably smooth for being 10.5%.

(12oz bottle thanks to blutt59) Pours opaque amber orange. Nose is alcohol, raisins yeast and biscuit. There is an odd hoppy linger on this one and it is very hot on the alcohol. The taste also has the elements of the nose with raisins, biscuity yeast, and more hops than I expected.

Pours deep mahogany into a trappist glass. Tan head with medium retention recedes to skim surface. Cocoa and pit fruit aromas. Sweet and thin upfront with raisins and plums turning to a lasting sweet alcohol burn.

Pretty complex aroma with some raisin and yeast and some big malt presence. A little hot but not annoyingly so. I would expect a little bit with such a high alcohol drink. A little roasted malt in the flavor and a slight hint of sweetness. Nutty and dark fruit flavors. Some plum and raisin are in there. A bit of a chalky texture on the finish. Pretty good and I’ll agree with some previous raters that the complexity is just not as intense as some of the better belgian versions of this. An honorable attempt at an incredibly tough style.

Bottle. Pours a murky brown with a tiny white ring of head. Aroma of Belgian yeast, spices, and roasted nuts. Flavor of roasted nuts and a touch of roasted malt and sweet malt. Not boozy per se, just very warming. Nice abt/quad. It’s roasted characteristics make it stand out from the traditional Belgians. 8/4/8/4/16 (4.0/5)

Bottle. Nice aroma of clove, toffee, sugars, fruits with a sort of very light cognac feel to them. Alcohol comes out a bit more in the flavor, as do the sugars, but toffee and malt hang around to do their best to balance it out. Overripe fruits add to the sweetness but also give it an interesting edge to help balance. Lots of nice aspects, but still a touch cloying for me by bottle’s end. Lots of positives, some negatives.